


A Good Mistake

by Indig0



Series: DBH Rare Pairs Weeks [10]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Blind Date, Body Modification, Gavin/Rupert is background, M/M, Ralph is so afraid, Wingfic, mild body horror, otherwise canon compliant, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2020-10-14 13:11:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20601347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indig0/pseuds/Indig0
Summary: RK900 and Ralph each came to the coffee shop to meet someone else, but after seeing what they had in common, decided they preferred each other.(That leaves Gavin and Rupert without a date, so they might as well go feed the pigeons together)(DBH Rare Pairs Week Prompt:  Wrong Blind Date/Wings)





	A Good Mistake

_Let’s meet at Caribou Coffee across from the park at 2. We can get a booth._

…

_That coffee shop on the corner of Bend and Pernod? I’ll be there around 2, I’ll wait by the door._

…

Ralph tugged the tarp down lower over his shoulders, fingering it, looking around. There was no one who looked anything like the picture he’d been sent. Was Ralph early? …No, he was right on time. He fidgeted for a moment, took a shaky breath, and headed inside.

It wasn’t terribly crowded inside, and Ralph paused by the door to let his eye adjust. His shoulders twitched and the tarp shuffled, and he pulled it tighter. There were couples and small groups sitting around… and one lone person in a booth. It didn’t look quite like the picture he remembered, but… it was a single man with brown hair, wearing a jacket. In a booth. Then he turned, and the material over his shoulders shifted and ruffled, and Ralph’s breath caught in his throat.

RK900 had hoped to branch out socially, whether it led to something romantic or not. At least it would be good practice. He hadn’t felt any special connection with the man he’d been talking with online, but he’d talked a lot about birds, and the beautiful soft sounds their wings made. He did seem nice, and Nines would give him a chance.

He didn’t normally wear his wings uncovered, but he’d been struck by an odd feeling and decided this man who loved birds might like them. He was a bit self-conscious though, and kept them folded neatly around his shoulders while he wrapped his hands around the hot mug. The door opened, and he didn’t look up immediately. When he did, his breath caught.

It was a WR600, a common model, but badly damaged on the left side of his face, and both arms scraped up. He had a ripped tarp tied around his shoulders that he held tightly. Something seemed to move under it, and his eyes were drawn to a long metal appendage sticking out of a hole, twitching slightly. Nines rose fluidly and strode up to him. The smaller android’s shoulders hunched and he backed up a step. Nines stopped a couple feet away.

“I – apologize, I didn’t mean to distress you. I didn’t realize… we were alike.”

The WR600’s eyes were darting around, so he didn’t see Nines lift his large white wings immediately, but when he did, he froze.

“Y-you… you… but…”

“Would you like to sit?” He gestured and headed to the counter, coming back quickly with a second steaming mug. They edged into the booth facing each other.

“Your… wings, you… you just… keep them out?”

“Not usually, but I… I hoped you would appreciate them. And if they repelled you, I would rather know immediately.” His wings drew in a bit, and Ralph’s tarp twitched.

“Ralph hides, always.” His eyes darted around again. “Humans hurt Ralph before, sometimes they try to hurt more, Ralph… isn’t as strong as you.” He glanced up uncertainly.

“I’m sorry,” the RK900 murmured. He slowly slid his hand to the center of the table, between them. “My name is Nines, I’m an RK900. No one will harm you here.”

Ralph eyed him. “W-when androids weren’t supposed to be free… Ralph hid, and… and another android that looked like you came. He was hunting deviants, he led the police to Ralph, let the humans capture Ralph.”

Nines bowed his head. “I apologize for the way my predecessor treated you. The RK800 was a machine following orders. He’s since deviated and has been helping protect androids from those who would hurt them.”

“And you?” Ralph narrowed his eyes.

“I woke up deviant. Connor and Markus activated me and filled me in. I keep a series of greenhouses, and have been cultivating new strains of plant life.”

Ralph lit up, the piece sticking out of his tarp jumping. “R-Ralph used to take care of plants! In a park! So many flowers and bushes!”

“Really?” Nines smiled. “Would you like to see what I’m growing?”

“Yes! Y-yes, Ralph would love to, Ralph… lives where it’s dark now, and plants don’t like to grow… Ralph misses them.”

The two finished their thirium, and Nines offered Ralph his hand as they stood up. Ralph froze, then visibly steeled himself and grabbed it. Nines smiled, and they walked out.

“Ralph was… scared you might be human. Or mean. You wouldn’t say your model before, and…” He trailed off, frowning.

“You never asked my model. You mostly talked about the birds you care for.”

The WR600 stared at him blankly. “Ralph doesn’t care for birds.”

Nines frowned and pulled up the conversation on his HUD, then showed it to Ralph via a light interface. Ralph blinked, and dug through his files to show Nines his own conversation.

“I… I think perhaps we were each waiting for someone else,” Nines murmured.

Ralph stopped on the sidewalk, pulling his hand back to pull his tarp tight again. “R-Ralph didn’t… Ralph thought… Sorry, Ralph was wrong, this was a mistake, s-s-sorry.”

Nines hesitated, then offered his hand again. “I think it was a good mistake, though. You seem far more interesting than the person I was talking to.”

Something sparked in the damaged left side of Ralph’s face. “Really?” he squeaked.

“I’d still like to show you my plants, and to get to know you better. If you’d like.”

Ralph didn’t quite smile, but it seemed like he was trying. “Ralph… would like that.” He tremulously put his hand in the RK900’s again, and Nines smiled warmly, opening his wings. They folded neatly into a cape configuration, but when spread they were enormous.

“Have you flown much?” he asked. He couldn’t quite tell, but it didn’t look like Ralph was able to fly now.

“No,” Ralph breathed, his eyes wide. “Never. It – Ralph wasn’t… built with w-wings.”

“How did you get them?”

He hunched up. “A human. He said he would help, but he lied…”

Nines curled an arm lightly around the smaller android. “Would you fly with me? I won’t let you fall.”

Ralph looked at him closely. He liked this big android, he seemed nice, Ralph liked him already and that was scary enough… He didn’t seem like he’d drop Ralph. But it was so hard to trust…

“If you’re not comfortable, we can walk,” Nines offered after a moment.

“Fly,” Ralph whispered, shuffling a step closer. “Ralph never got to fly.”

Nines smiled, wrapping his arms lightly around Ralph. “Hold onto my arms.” He bent his knees, made sure he had a good grip on Ralph, and _leapt_ into the air. Ralph gasped and flailed and grabbed on tight. A few powerful beats of his wings took them up above the buildings, and he banked to circle once.

_RK900: The takeoff is the most difficult to get used to. It will be smoother from here. Are you all right?_

_WR600: YES, Ralph is OkAy, DDDDDON’T let Go, doN’T lEt RALPH Fall_

_RK900: Never._

As the two had left the coffee shop, two other guests showed up. The scruffy human and the WB200 eyed each other.

“I thought you’d be taller,” said the WB200. “And you talk like an android.”

“The fuck’s that supposed to mean!? You can’t even form complete sentences!” the man growled, rubbing the scar on his nose.

“Excuse me? Where did I not form a complete sentence? My grammar’s just fine!”

The human pulled out his phone and scrolled through, showing the android his conversation. “You sound like you’ve never typed before!”

The android stared at it. “…That’s not me.”

“What?”

“I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but that’s not me, and I was talking to some guy who never used contractions and was formal about everything. I told him about my birds, and he pretended to be interested. You’re here for somebody else, and so am I.”

“Phck.”

“I don’t see any other single people here, though…”

“Well I’m getting a coffee, you can do whatever.” The man stomped to the counter, paid, and sat down with his drink. After a moment the android joined him.

“Do you mind?”

“…Okay, fine, I’ve got nothing else goin’ right now obviously. I’m Gavin. Detective at the DPD.”

“My name is Rupert Travis. I take care of pigeons and other wild birds.”

“Why?” Gavin asked, making a face.

“Because I want to, and they accept my company,” Rupert snapped. “Why do you do your job? I can’t think of anything that sounds more stressful.”

“Because I wanna make a difference? Keep the city safe? Solve interesting cases?”

“And do you?”

“Fuck, yeah, most of the time.”

“Do you like the people you work with?”

“They’re assholes.” Gavin paused, in a rare moment of self-reflection. “I’m the biggest asshole there.”

“Sounds like a bad place to work.”

Gavin glared at him.

“…Do you want to feed the pigeons across the street? I brought some barley.” He pulled a bag out of his backpack.

Gavin narrowed his eyes and gave him a long, calculating look. “…Sure. What the hell. I got nothin’ better to do.”

The two left, and the pigeons that had been pecking around on the sidewalk outside followed them.

Ralph looked around in wonder at the tropical plants all around them.

“This – It’s known as a sugarbush, the flowers are normally pink, I’m trying to cultivate a deep purple variety. I’m working on crossing these two ginger species. Ah, over here, the hibiscus. I’m cultivating a thicker, sweeter petal that will be more appealing to eat.”

“Beautiful,” Ralph breathed.

“I – forgive me, but… would you… show me your wings?” Nines asked hesitantly. “I’ve never seen another pair, and… Mine were a last-minute addition, and I rather like them, but they make me a bit self-conscious because I was the only one.”

Ralph hunched up, but glanced up at the taller android. “They’re… not like yours, not beautiful, not strong, not… They’re broken now. Not even wings.”

“I don’t wish to make you uncomfortable. I’m sorry.”

He fidgeted and shifted around. “Ralph always keeps them covered, people… people don’t like them.”

“But someone… made them for you.”

“Not a nice present. Ralph never wanted them.”

“I’m sorry,” Nines said softly.

Ralph’s face twisted around in indecision, and finally he grabbed at the tarp, pulling on the knot he’d tied, and yanked it off. “Fine! Fine, look at Ralph, look what they did to Ralph, look! Not perfect and good like Nines, just… just awful and wrong!”

The skeletal frame of wings on his back spread at the sudden freedom, and Nines could see how charred and twisted they were. They shuddered slightly now and then, the outermost sections twitched, they moved out of Ralph’s control even when he tried to keep them closed and small.

“Do they hurt?” Nines asked quietly.

Ralph flinched. “S-some, they hurt, when… when Ralph hits them on something, when they try to open and can’t, when… yes.”

“What color were they?”

“Nnn, black. No, gray. Dark gray.”

Nines walked around in front of Ralph, and saw the other android’s face twitching and his jaw clenching, his eyes squinting. “You should let them stretch more.”

“When?” Ralph snapped. “When people can see, when they stare and whisper like Ralph can’t hear, when they chase and hurt Ralph!?”

“When you’re alone, when you’re safe. When you have time to stretch and relax and take care of them. To clean and oil them so they don’t hurt as much.”

Ralph looked up, tired and suspicious. “Ralph doesn’t have time like that.”

“Not at home?”

“Not… not always.”

Nines hesitated. “May… may I touch them?”

Ralph froze, open terror washing over his face.

“No, I’m sorry, I won’t. I apologize. Then if I get you some oil and a soft cloth, would you feel comfortable caring for them here? I won’t watch if you’d rather I didn’t. I can leave you alone. But I promise you’re safe here.”

“W-why?”

“I don’t want you to hurt. I… I’d like to spend more time with you, and I’d like you to be comfortable, and have a place to feel safe. I’ll admit I’m quite enamored of your wing frames, but if they make you uncomfortable I’ll try not to draw attention to them.”

Ralph stared at him, LED spinning wildly. “You… Nines… that means… you like them?” he asked slowly, incredulously.

“I do,” Nines murmured, dropping his eyes. His own wings were half-folded, relaxed against his back.

“Can… could Ralph touch _your_ wings?”

“Of course.” He spread them to their full length, and angled them forward a bit. Ralph came up to touch them, and brief brushed became fascinated holding, rubbing, feeling every bit of them.

“Ralph’s were never this strong,” he murmured.

It was tempting to just envelope Ralph in his huge white wings, but that might be taken as a threat, a trap. He kept still. “I wish we had met before. We could have flown together.”

The WR600 looked up sharply. “Ralph wishes too. Nines… w-wanted… to meet someone nice, someone else with wings perfect and nice like yours, and… and all you found was Ralph, and… Nines could be good to someone who’s good to you.” His face brightened into a sickly smile. “But plenty of time, Nines can go try again, keep looking. Maybe meet the other one he talked to. Maybe someone even better. The best. Or the best after Nines. You. Sorry.”

“I… I could,” Nines agreed. “But I think what I’d like is to spend more time with you. If you’d like that as well.” He offered a hand.

Ralph stared at it. “Wh – but… but Ralph is…” He gestured vaguely to himself.

“You’ve been hurt. Badly. But I can see kindness and joy nonetheless. You would be well worth getting to know, and I hope I can earn your trust in time. And we can still fly together.”

Ralph’s jaw trembled. “Y-you… Ralph…” He twitched. “Ralph… s-says words wrong, and… and used to be better, but…”

“I understand you, though. If you don’t hold my speech patterns against me, I certainly won’t hold yours against you.”

“Ralph’s scared,” he admitted quietly, looking away. “A lot, Ralph’s scared.”

“I’m content to work on it slowly If you’re at all interested. If not, I can take you back down and I won’t bother you again. You’re under no obligation –“

Ralph grabbed his hand swiftly. He kept his mouth clamped shut, but he nodded hard. Spurts of longing, loneliness, hope flashed through their circuits.

Nines smiled and curled his fingers around Ralph’s smaller ones. He was built small, and made an effort to make himself seem smaller, and Nines found himself utterly charmed.

“Let me show you where the maintenance supplies are kept,” he murmured, keeping hold of Ralph’s hands, curling a wing around him, and leading him through the greenhouse. “You can take care of your wings, and… we can talk for a while. I'd like to sit with you. Or I can busy myself nearby, if you'd rather.”

“And… and you’ll… stay with Ralph?”

“Of course. As long as you want me to.” Nines smiled slightly

“Hm!” A grin had spread over Ralph’s face, and he pulled Nines’s hand a little closer to him as they walked. “R-Ralph… knows some places around that… that you can see… interesting things. And nice parks, and… hidden places where plants grow, Ralph could… show you, too. And if you fly, maybe even more.”

“I’d like that. This – I’m glad we met. This was the best mistake I can imagine.”

Ralph’s grin grew. “Yes! Yes, a good mistake, to meet you!”


End file.
